The Keeper of the Dead
by Jade Tatsu
Summary: With Chronos ruling the world, Aptom takes a look into the past just as he is about to take his biggest step into the future. Chronos better hope they are ready. One shot.


Ashaman2 I apologise because I couldn't think of a way of getting an Aptom chapter into 'The Conquered' so I wrote this little piece. Hope you like.

This breaks away from the manga at about... well... Volume 22... But that's not necessary to know just so long as you make the assumption that X-day has occurred.. I hope everything makes sense.

I think if I write another Guyver one shot, I'll try for something... opposite, should I? Opinions would be welcomed.

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The Keeper of the Dead  
By Jade Tatsu

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**I** am a Zoanoid...

Heh, I can see the laughter now. It's fair, there are only a handful of people on this planet who aren't.

My name is Aptom and while I am a Zoanoid I am also a Lost Number.

I can already see your thought, why aren't I dead? Because in my case, my number is truly Lost. I have neither the ability to reproduce or to be reproduced. Other Lost Number's can be copied, if their traits are desirable enough, but Chronos considers all Zoanoids who cannot breed lost since it is far easier to have Zoaforms that breed true than to throw someone into a processing tank for a month. Cheaper too.

I, though, have been alive for centuries, simply for the fact that my abilities are desirable and cannot be copied. Well, my ability can be copied... You just won't like the results.

Alkanphel calls me 'The Keeper'. Very few ever ask or care what I am the Keeper of.

I am the Keeper of the Dead.

I am the Keeper of those who have fought Chronos.

Not the hundreds who had no chance and who foolishly tried to fight. I could care less about them. I am the Keeper of those who had a chance, who fought with honour and dignity. I am the Keeper of those who might have won.

I am the Keeper of those Alkanphel doesn't like to remember because they came so close.

There are only eight graves... In all the centuries Chronos has ruled, there are only eight graves, and they are all from the beginning. I have buried them in the shadow of Mt Minakami, the shadow of the Mountain that began it all for them.

It is sacred ground.

No priest has consecrated it. No religion knows about it. Even Chronos doesn't care but for me it is sacred.

Dyme and Solume died here. It seemed fitting that I lay the others here.

Of the eight, at the time they died, only two were human, four were Zoanoids and two were Guyvers. And I know you don't know what that means. Chronos has hidden so much.

Looking back, there are so many places we could have turned away from the path. We didn't though... Is that arrogance? Is that foolishness?

Each of us had our own reasons for not being able to leave Chronos in peace. You might say it was foolish for us to take them on, but there was no choice. I wasn't present for all their deaths. I don't know if anyone regretted their path when they died.

They would have regretted their failure. Of that there is no question. But I don't think they would have regretted the path.

These eight fought with dignity and honour. They were resolute. And they were powerful.

There was no choice but to fight. There was no foolishness. The sheer stupidity in battle comes with the fact that not all of them were killed by Chronos. These eight should never have been forced to work together. Their ideals were different.

Segawa Mizuki, Fukamachi Sho, Segawa Tetsuro, Taga Natsuki and Hayami could all work together. Maybe they should have formed their own battle.

Onuma Shizu, Makishima Agito and Murakami Masaki all fought differently. They believed in the sanctity of life, their life. They did not see the innocents they killed.

It was not a good alliance and by the time the final battle came, the rifts had already caused their defeat.

It may not have been a good alliance but Alkanphel, Chronos, still took them seriously, the eight who had the chance to destroy them.

Fukamachi was the last to die. I held him as he looked into Alkanphel's cat like eyes. The Zoalord was silent at the time. I don't think he believed the method of death but it was real. He had one request for the Supreme Zoalord before he died very quietly, almost peacefully.

'Remember us.'

It was not a question, just a last request. I almost choked when Alkanphel nodded and Sho gave a final smile, looked up at the sky and died.

I will remember him.

It should never have ended that way, and if I could kill Makishima a thousand times I would. No matter what happened between the two of them, Agito should never have killed Fukamachi.

The only consolation is that, even if only by minutes Sho did outlive the other Guyver. But at the same time that is sadness because he saw their final defeat.

His grave is near the centre, next to Mizuki's because he loved her so much. Hope lies there...

You will understand soon enough.

Alkanphel will understand soon enough.

Chronos will understand.

They will understand the last gift Fukamachi gave to me.

And I hope Makishima is watching.

Of them all, Fukamachi planted the seeds to continue to fight.

It would gall Agito, but for the few Rebels today, they do not cry out Zeus, they do not swear allegiance to the Thunderbolts, rather they cry 'We will be Free' and in their cry is the memory of the five who would not take innocent life and who sacrificed even their very humanity in the attempt to fight.

Mizuki hated Zoanoids with a passion. From the time she discovered what the human race had been designed for she was filled with loathing. Not for the individuals. She never treated me, Hayami, or any of the others with anything less than respect, but that was a respect she gave to all living things. She hated Chronos. she hated the Advents. She hated the thought that we, humans are nothing more than a weapon to be used as someone else's tool.

She hated it. She always hated it.

Imagine my surprise when wounded after a battle I looked up to see a Zoanoid healing me, a Zoanoid that had been designed only to heal, and a Zoanoid that was Mizuki.

Hate is a difficult thing to understand, even for me who lives it day and night... She hated Zoanoids, she hated the thought of what they represented, and I'm sure she hated her Zoaform but she was still prepared to use it.

Human doctors with the drugs and bandages and surgery can only achieve so much. A Zoanoid Healer can achieve more since they can directly feed energy into the damaged cells, removing them completely or healing them. It is slightly more complicated than the acceleration of the natural healing process but it is easiest to understand when thought of like that.

Mizuki though, if she could get to you soon enough could heal wounds that were fatal.

She healed her brother once of a poisoned dagger through the heart. The dagger had been poisoned with a toxin genetically linked to Tetsuro and had been thrown by a Zoanoid under Valkus' direct control.

The Zoanoid was dead less than a second after he threw the blade but he had had time to relay the Zoalords gloating.

Mizuki saved Tetsuro then, she still lived long enough to see her brother die though. I'm not sure if she ever regretted healing him then, given the nature of his eventual death at Valkus' hands or if she thought of the overwhelming frustration it would have caused the Zoalord to see his supposedly dead enemy alive again.

Tetsuro made good use of the time though. Chronos had seen what he was capable of with Murakami. He had altered the proto-Zoalord to the point where Masaki was as powerful as Gyro and the two of them had destroyed each other earlier in the conflict. But that was just a taste of what Tetsuro was capable of, just a warm up piece.

Valkus has been alive for centuries. He has designed many Zoaforms and has had a hand in the creation of many of the Zoalords. You'd think that being taught by Alkanphel about the nature of the Zoasystem would give him an advantage but against Tetsuro...

In the twenty five years Tetsuro graced this world, in the seven he knew of Zoanoids he showed Valkus to be what he truly was; an old man without creativity or imagination who simply when about his duties by rote.

Tetsuro's Zoanoids were as creative as they were dangerous. It is a testament to him that even now some of his designs are still created and are still the most dangerous forms. I should know... I helped make some of them...

Chronos doesn't know that though.

But even now, centuries after he was killed his creations are considered the best.

And I hope Valkus chokes on that fact every day.

I think I'll ask him before I kill him.

No... Mizuki wouldn't have regretted saving her brother then...

Valkus did though. Alkanphel did as well. He told her that as he killed her. I think she might have laughed if the blood hadn't of been pooling in her throat.

Mizuki in Zoanoid form was not a person to be taken lightly... Nor was she weak or submissive and her usual views changed... It was as if she was a completely new person.

Her brother must have done that.

Even so, she died. She fought Alkanphel but a healer could not fight a combat Zoalord effectively, despite the blows she did manage to land and so she died, mocking him with her ability, even then to resist his mental coercion.

It was almost like Shizu in that way.

Shizu's was one of the stupid deaths. It was something that shouldn't have happened but something that is inevitable when you are waging a large scale war.

Natsuki killed Shizu... by accident.

Agito killed Sho in cold blood. Natsuki never meant for it to happen and in many ways it was equally Shizu's fault. When you are commanding one hundred thousand troops, with another two hundred thousand in reserve, you do not have time to think of the individual.

It was one of the early battles. After Murakami died, but before Tetsuro was taken.

It was when the will to fight Chronos was still strong.

It wasn't always like this. Just after X-day, as overwhelming as that had been there was a sense of outrage pervading the world, and that sense drove them to fight.

Over the years, with battle after battle and no clear victory, that sense died and became the apathy that rules today. Chronos was counting on it.

As the will to fight slowly waned, Chronos took more and more control until one day, there just was no fight, and they called themselves the rulers of Earth.

Unfortunately by that stage most of the eight who could fight Chronos had been killed.

I guess that was a mercy. Most of them didn't see their defeat.

Shizu though died early. Well, she died in the early fighting... It was an accident. Her battalion got cut off.

Not through carelessness, not through malice, not through design. It was just one of those things that happen in battle.

Natsuki tried to save her. As soon as she realised that Shizu's Unit was cut off, she tried to manoeuvre everything and everyone around to Shizu's position to get her but Chronos just wasn't going to let that happen.

I don't think they knew they had Shizu, they killed everyone that section of the field without asking questions so it was only the after the fact that they realised who they killed.

Right as Makishima butchered thousands of Zoanoids in revenge for death of his beloved.

He was understandably upset and while he shouted at Natsuki he did nothing more. She was only human so he couldn't attack her physically. It was something of a surprise to us. Fukamachi had been detailed to stay with Natsuki for a bit, just in case he did attack her.

He took his anger out on the Zoanoids and really I think Agito knew how dangerous combat was. He knew and had accepted the risks, accepted the fact that he might die and that she might die in combat. She was a Zoalord, she had all the protection she could get but against Chronos he knew that might not be enough.

Once that battle was over with, and the subsequent slaughter of Zoanoids, Chronos attacked again and we had no time to mourn.

Natsuki continued to show her brilliance. She even came close to rescuing Tetsuro from Chronos when they took him but she couldn't and it was only because Alkanphel himself came into the battle that Mizuki was lost.

I think though she blamed herself somewhat for the all the losses. That was a part of what made her such a brilliant leader. Every fighter knew she would do her best to take care of them. She leave no one behind.

Of course reality wasn't that nice and she did order, knowingly, many to their deaths on missions that had to succeed but the fighters knew that what she did, she did for the greater good.

I think that's why Chronos got so desperate in the end. They sent Zektoll.

And that was the end of that.

He didn't even leave a body.

There are eight graves here and only one actually has a body.

Murakami and Gyro became one being before they died and it would be sacrilege to bury Gyro here.

With the slaughter Shizu died it there was no choice but to burn it all. In a mess that big, there was no way to identify who was who and there was no time.

Tetsuro's body was taken by Chronos. They've cloned him several times but they have never again captured his genius.

After Mizuki died, Alkanphel destroyed her body. The Supreme Zoalord was not going to take the chance that she could heal herself.

Natsuki was vaporised by Zektoll, and even if she had been a Zoanoid I doubt there would have been any remains.

Agito... The Zoalord ripped out his medallion and his Unit consumed him. There was nothing left to bury.

Fukamachi's grave is the only one filled.

That's only seven though.

The last grave belongs to Hayami.

I killed him.

It is not something I'm proud of. I was not aware of what I was doing. I felt it afterwards though.

Fukamachi gave me the beating of my life afterwards. Kaburaal Haan lost his control over me on the first hit. I think Sho knew that but by then he was beyond caring.

He beat me to within an inch of my life and truthfully, I wouldn't have cared if he killed me then. Even more than Natsuki, Fukamachi cared for everyone and it didn't help that Hayami had died defending him from my attack.

He killed every single Zoanoid that tried to get in the way as he continued beating me and once he was through, breathless, he dragged me out of there and back to the safe haven that the others were staying at.

Sho understood why I did it, and he understood that it wasn't me. For him though Hayami's death was just another reason to fight. And fight he did.

He backed Murakami against Gyro. He would have rescued Shizu. He killed the Zoanoid who poisoned Tetsuro and slaughtered as many Zoanoids for his friend as Agito did for his wife.

And after similar blood baths for both Mizuki and Natsuki he tried to live up to Makishima's expectations.

I don't know what happened between the two Guyvers. All I know is that when Alkanphel had the remains of the Thunderbolts cornered, Agito killed Fukamachi and then went alone to fight the Zoalord of Zoalords.

Such arrogance didn't help Makishima and Alkanphel didn't make the same mistake he had made with Fukamachi before X-day.

There is only one way to kill a Guyver, rip out and destroy their control medallion.

That's what Alkanphel did to Makishima before he came looking for Fukamachi. I hope Agito suffered.

Fukamachi was with me. Wounded, dying.

I don't know what Makishima did. I wasn't there or I would have stopped the black Guyver. I could only hold him as he died.

I am a Zoanoid.

With everyone else dead I had no choice but to submit to Alkanphel. My genetics are defective though. That's what Chronos believes because a Zoalord cannot control me. I cannot hear them, not mentally, they must speak to me to order me.

Alkanphel kept me alive, I think so that he would remember. He told Fukamachi he would and I am that memory and their Keeper.

I am still used though. I told you, my traits are desirable so occasionally I have been called from my duties to attend to some mission that they cannot accomplish without me.

I think they will regret that soon.

Don't worry, it's nearly over...

Everything's nearly over...

The battle against Chronos and your lack of understanding.

I told you my ability could be copied but you wouldn't like the results...

Oh, you do..?

That's me speaking.

Alkanphel won't like the results.

"We know."

But we will give him time to appreciate how what cannot reproduce and cannot be reproduced can still be copied.

He shouldn't have used me for those missions.

I've had centuries...

And it has taken centuries...

I will give him time to see the final gift Fukamachi gave to me, the final sacrifice he was prepared to make.

Alkanphel should have questioned why it was that Fukamachi's body was the only one to remain.

Heh, I shouldn't really say Sho wasn't prepared to take the lives of innocent's should I? Not really...

You understand now though, don't you?

The final gift Fukamachi gave to me.

It's time...

Fukamachi taught me that it only takes one.

One who is millions and despite the fact that I know he never really wanted this, never wanted to kill the world, I think I will let it be his hand that finishes it.

For the gift he has given to me, for acknowledging that in the end, there was no choice, he deserves that much.

"Leader, let's go."

You see it my way now, don't you?

Let's go. It's time Chronos learned the truth...

"Guyver!"

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End file.
